Quick Rant: The Closing Go Fish Ocean Club Stinks Like Rotten Fish

I am on vacation. I vowed I would not use a computer for 10 days. Well, despite the lovely beach, fine food, and great reading I’ve done, I can’t fight my addiction with connecting to the Internet any longer.

Yesterday, I jumped on quickly to learn that Go Fish Ocean Club closed after business on Saturday night. This morning I checked in to find a this comment from Uppercase Matt:

TD’s facebook says: Chef Tiffany Derry: Last nite the owners of Go Fish closed its doors and decided not to tell me nor the staff anything. How do you tell all the guys that has been with you for over 2 years that they no longer have a job.Like a thief in the night they packed everything away and til this point has not called to explain anything to me. It wont hold me down because tomorrow is a new day and God is good all the time, vengeance is the Lord

I spoke with Mike Hogue and John Tesar a couple of weeks ago.  Hogue assured me he was dedicated to building several restaurants downtown. I asked him about the prospect of Tesar getting his own restaurant and got a vague answer. I don’t have my notes here, but Hogue basically said he loved working with John and John had done some amazing things at Dallas Chop House and the new concepts without answering my direct question. I got the feeling that Tesar had to open 2 or 3 spots before Hogue would build Tesar his own kitchen.

Tesar told me was no longer corporate culinary director. He said he is a consultant for DRG. I’ve heard several reports of Tesar talking to other restaurant projects in town. The whole situation is a discombobulated mess.  Hogue wants to open restaurants; Tesar wants to cook.

However, closing Go Fish Ocean Club without telling chef Tiffany Derry was rude and disrespectful. Maybe it was a good business decision, but Hogue’s method stinks.I understand Hogue can do whatever he wants—it’s his money and his operation. But Derry’s appearance on Top Chef brought national attention to Mike Hogue as a successful restaurateur. Maybe it didn’t bring customers but, at the very least, he should have included her in his plans for Go Fish Ocean Club.